Luis Fonsi To Drop First Album Since "Despacito"

The Latin GRAMMY winner will drop 'Vida' on Feb. 1, his first studio album in five years. It will feature the smash hit, along with plenty of long-awaited new music

Ana Yglesias

GRAMMYs

Jan 11, 2019 - 6:00 pm

Latin GRAMMY winner and past GRAMMY nominee Luis Fonsi, who became a household name following the smash success of "Despacito" in 2017, will be releasing his long-anticipated follow-up studio album on Feb. 1. Vida is his first LP since 8 in 2014, and will give the world some new Fonsi music, as well an album home for his biggest hits.

The new album will not only let listeners catch up on all of Fonsi's collabs but will also share new solo songs. As Billboard reports (and the tracklist hints), the majority of the lyrics are sung in Spanish, yet two versions of "Sola," bookend the album with a Spanish-language version to open and the English version to close.

Billboard describes the opening track as "a mid-tempo, sultry R&B tinged jam over sparse arrangements that highlight Fonsi's fine voice from the get-go." They also highlight the diversity of sounds a on the new album, with some more upbeat, urbano-style tracks in the vein of "Despacito," and some romantic baladas, more in the style of Fonsi's earlier recordings.

While to some music fans, especially those who predominantly listen to English-language music, Fonsi may have appeared to ascend to the spotlight out of nowhere with the release of "Despacito (Remix)" in April 2017. In reality, the Puerto Rican singer has been releasing music in Spanish since 1998 when he released his debut album, Comenzare.

His eight albums released-to-date saw success in the Latin music market, with several songs topping Billboard's Hot Latin Songs chart and several making it to the all-genre Hot 100, including "Nada Es Para Siempre" back in 2005 and "No Me Doy Por Vencido" in 2008, both of which hit No. 1 on the Latin chart.

He released his fourth studio album, Fight The Feeling, and only English-language one, in 2002, following the crossover success of other Latin music artists releasing music in English, such as GRAMMY/Latin GRAMMY winners Ricky Martin with "Livin' La Vida Loca" in 1999 and Shakira with "Whenever, Wherever" in 2001.

When Fonsi released "Despacito" with reggaeton legend Daddy Yankee, followed by the remix version with Bieber, the trio had a runaway hit. The song spent 16 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and 52 weeks total on the chart and was the most streamed song of 2017 with 1.3 billion streams.

Luis Fonsi: "Despacito" Wins Record Of The Year

At the 60th GRAMMY Awards the "Despacito (Remix)" earned the Fonsi, Bieber and Yankee three nominations, for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Following the night of the show, for which Fonsi and Yankee performed their original song on stage, it saw a huge spike in downloads, a 263 percent climb from the prior day. The remix also saw a rise in sales at that time in January 2018, following its huge 2017 end-of-year streaming numbers.

While Fonsi may not have been able to ride the Latin music crossover wave in the early 00's, he is often credited for the renewed and widened interest in Latin music across markets following the success of "Despactio." It feels like the world is ready to step into Fonsi's new Vida.

"Despacito" Ties Billboard Hot 100 Record

Having notched 16 weeks at No. 1, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" featuring Justin Bieber could make chart history

Renée Fabian

GRAMMYs

Aug 28, 2017 - 3:42 pm

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito," featuring Justin Bieber, has been heating up the charts all summer long, and now it has edged its way one step closer to Billboard Hot 100 chart history.

At 13 weeks, "Despacito" was deemed the longest-running No. 1 hit of 2017, beating out Ed Sheeran's 12-week run of "Shape Of You." Now it's reached a new milestone.

With 16 weeks to its name at No. 1, "Despacito" is tied for most weeks ever in the top spot with Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," which spent 16 weeks at No. 1 in 1995 and 1996.

With one week left to go to potentially surpass the old record, will "Despacito" dethrone "One Sweet Day"? According to a Billboardreport, Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" may head it off at the pass. Regardless, the saucy jam has already left an indelible mark on the 59-year history of the Billboard charts.

Justin Bieber, Luis Fonsi Score More "Despacito" Records

The smooth collab featuring Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber is now officially the longest-running No. 1 song in 2017, as announced by Billboard. "Despacito" — which translates to "Slowly" in English — has reigned at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 lucky weeks now, surpassing the 12-week run of Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You."

Can "Despacito" become the longest-running single of all time? If the single can make it to 17 weeks at No. 1, it would pass Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day," which spent 16 weeks atop the Hot 100.

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Will "Despacito" surpass Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100?

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Meanwhile, "Despacito" — now the top-viewed video on YouTube with north of 3 billion views — is eligible for consideration for the 18th Latin GRAMMY Awards. Will the song grab any nods? Find out Sept. 20 when Latin GRAMMY nominees will be announced.

Alejandro Sanz Reveals New Album Is "Coming Soon"

The Spanish singer's last studio album was 2015's Sirope, which earned him a Latin GRAMMY and a GRAMMY nod that year

Ana Yglesias

GRAMMYs

Feb 22, 2019 - 5:51 pm

GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-winning Spanish ballad singer Alejandro Sanz has revealed more details about his upcoming 12 studio album, titled #ElDisco, set to be released this year.

On the red carpet at the Premio Lo Nuestro Latin music awards last night, Sanz told Billboard that his highly anticipated follow-up to 2015's Sirope, which earned Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Album at the 16th Latin GRAMMY Awards, is "coming soon." He also confirmed that a U.S. tour in its support is in the works.

He teased details about an upcoming single from the album, which samples late GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-winning icon Celia Cruz's "Por Si Acaso No Regreso."

"The result has been very beautiful. People have received it very well and they understand the meaning behind the song and what the lyrics are about," Sanz said of his song, which is about those who have to leave their country of origin and eventually feel homesick.

The singer's latest release is "Back In The City," featuring Latin GRAMMY-winning reggaetoneroNicky Jam, and will be featured on Sanz upcoming album. The pair performed the song last night onstage at Premio Lo Nuestro.

Luis Fonsi And Demi Lovato's "Échame La Culpa" Passes 1 Billion Views

Luis Fonsi crosses a billion views again, this time with Demi Lovato for the duo's infectiously danceable hit

Philip Merrill

GRAMMYs

Mar 12, 2018 - 12:33 pm

Since being published to Luis Fonsi's Vevo channel on Nov. 16, the music video for his "Échame La Culpa" hit with Demi Lovato has just passed 1 billion views on YouTube, the fifth-fastest to achieve this feat. Currently at No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100, the song's success sparked the March 2 release of an English-language "Not On You Remix" on March 2.

This new version of the song comes on top of Fonsi having lit up 2017 with "Despacito." The new duet's chart performance made him the third Latin music artist ever to have two songs charting in the Hot 100's top 50 in the same week, joining Daddy Yankee and Los Del Rio in that achievement. Fonsi and Daddy Yankee performed "Despacito" at the 60th GRAMMY Awards and the song was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. At the 18th Latin GRAMMYs in Nov. 2017, "Despacito" won four Latin GRAMMY Awards including Record Of The Year.

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